Great story. It is a little intriguing that an Episcopal priest would go to a
show with "a liberal dose of cursing and reference to sexual body
parts". I wonder if she was going to be entertained, learn more about
Mormons, or simply find an interesting storyline for her Huffington Post blog.

A silent film about Mormons kidnapping girls in England and taking them to Utah
played in London in the early part of the 20th century. I think it was called
"Trapped By The Mormons." The missionaries actually had the courage to
stand out front of the theatre and hand out tracts.

These
missionaries have the same courage and, you know, it just might prove fruitful.
I believe we will start to see a lot of people coming into the Church as a
result of this musical. God works in mysterious ways.

This ismaybe why the church leaders just let the play run its course without
pursuing any legal action. I do not know if they could anyways but wow, the good
will coming from the LDS church and allowing people to exercise their moral
agency. This is exactly what the church teaches: teach correct principles and
let the people choose what they are going to do. It really makes some of the
pundits on TV look foolish now I think, when I think of their comments when the
play started.

Brigham Young once said whenever the Mormons got kicked it only kicked them
"up" the stairs a little farther. I was the Bishop for 4 years of Mid
and Lower Manhattan which included all of Broadway. And even with the
questionable elements of the artsy community there, many good things happened.
We were actually quite well received in the community. When we broke ground for
the construction of the Harlem Chapel, Manhattan Borough President, Virginia
Field, attended the ceremony. We had virtually no protests over that chapel, the
Upper East Side building construction, the Union Square chapel construction, or
the Temple renovation construction across from Lincoln Center. Even the New York
Times gave us some good coverage occasionally! There was a lot of curiosity
generated over the massive expansion of the LDS Church in The City. And there
are many very sharp members who reside there... setting a wonderful example for
the whole world to see.

It sets a high standard for other faiths to follow - turning the other cheek,
etc. In at least 57 countries, these actors would get the death penalty for
mocking the majority faith in those countries. Yes, some cultures are more
enlightened than others, and this is proof. Many of us were led to investigate
the Church due to anti-Mormon propaganda.

The LDS Church was very wise to not protest this and encouraged the membership
to live as examples. I never protested of vilified this musical. I knew that
some who went to watch it would question and ponder what really goes on in the
LDS Church. Now some have found the joy the Gospel brings. I would encourage
my fellow LDS to continue to live as examples of love and charity as the Savior
has taught us.

What's interesting is that the play is having more of a positive effect
upon the church than the negative one that the writers mostly likely intended it
to have. It's also interesting how the play hit the headlines about the
time the Mitt Romney ran for President. There are many things happening that
are helping to bring the Church into the limelight. Now, it's the
responsibility of the members to open their mouths and talk with their neighbors
about their perceptions.

Is there a spirit of
equality here? Are all LDS here also fine with allowing evangelicals to pass
out their materials at Hill Cumorah pageants and temple dedications?

How happy I am that Bible-believing Christians insisted on their rights to
distribute Biblical pamphlets outside of a LDS temple open house. I grabbed one
just to refute it and it lead me to deeply resesrch my denomination of
6-generations of heritage. I would never have investigated my own history or
delved into the Bible otherwise.

Friend of mine joined the Church after attending anti-Mormon lectures. I went
with him to one. My testimony grew after visiting all the anti-Mormon websites I
could find as I taught D&C 4 yrs ago. Truth will always prevail.

What do you mean when you say, "Being a dramatic
theater major says it all"?

LDS authorities don't, and as
far as I know never have, interfered with the rights of others to distribute
their religious literature.

I think what the LDS missionaries in
the theater district are doing differs from what the people handing out
literature near LDS temple open-houses, in at least one significant way: The
missionaries aren't handing out material that denigrates the musical or
slanders its creators with dubious historical claims and outright lies.
They're just teaching their own beliefs.